Saturday, April 05, 2014

First Review!

So first post! This is about a book I read months ago and still haven't been able to stop thinking about.



Author: Shay Savage
Series: none
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Sci-Fi
Rating: 5 stars


It’s said that women and men are from two different planets when it comes to communication, but how can they overcome the obstacles of prehistoric times when one of them simply doesn’t have the ability to comprehend language?

Ehd’s a caveman living on his own in a harsh wilderness. He’s strong and intelligent, but completely alone. When he finds a beautiful young woman in his pit trap, it’s obvious to him that she is meant to be his mate. He doesn’t know where she came from; she’s wearing some pretty odd clothing, and she makes a lot of noises with her mouth that give him a headache. Still, he’s determined to fulfill his purpose in life – provide for her, protect her, and put a baby in her.

Elizabeth doesn’t know where she is or exactly how she got there. She’s confused and distressed by her predicament, and there’s a caveman hauling her back to his cavehome. She’s not at all interested in Ehd’s primitive advances, and she just can’t seem to get him to listen. No matter what she tries, getting her point across to this primitive, but beautiful, man is a constant – and often hilarious – struggle. 

With only each other for company, they must rely on one another to fight the dangers of the wild and prepare for the winter months. As they struggle to coexist, theirs becomes a love story that transcends language and time.


When I first found this book, I was immediately intrigued. And then upon starting it, I was sucked in since word one. I especially liked the idea that the book is narrated by End, the caveman, and not the girl. It was a refreshing change with today's literature. Especially because it being told in Ehd's point of view, we'd assume the thoughts go only as far as "oh, lookie rock!" and "me hurt." But no, it's complete thoughts, though a lot of his thoughts are the opposite of modern.

And then as I got farther, though I was enjoying the novel, my head was swirling with these nagging thoughts: How exactly did the girl, Elizabeth aka Beh get there? And what exactly is the plot. The whole book is mostly about Ehd trying to get Beh to be his mate. And then once she accepted him, he focused only on getting her pregnant. Not much of a plot, right?

What is good about this, is that it is accurate. It's what prehistoric people did. But still.

Then after completing the book, I realized something. The book does have an actual plot. In the beginning, we learn that Edh's tribe was all killed, and he's spent years alone. When he finds the pretty girl, he immediately claims her as is--he wants a family. The main focus of the story is Edh creating a new family, and then his life with them. And the journey of him doing so is so sweet and heartbreaking at times.

And then the ending...oh the feels. At times it got a tad confusing to keep track of because when Ehd and Beh finds a tribe, all these new names are being thrown around, and they all sound similar to each other. Plus it jumps around through the years a bit, so you definitely have to keep track.

And then (and this is where I cried) (sobbed is more like it) the last couple of pages happened. It shows them being old, and then they leave the tribe to go off together to die. This was the saddest and sweetest thing I read in a while. One, I adore that they met when they were, what, teens? And the whole book took you through their lives, all the way to death. Two, it was better in my opinion, though much sadder, that the author didn't just end the book when they found a tribe and go ta da! They're happy. They're together. And then we as readers get to fill in the blanks. No. The author provided us with a nice ending about all their children having lives of their own, and Edh and Beh's death. Three, I loved that they didn't just die in their cave, that they went back to their original cave where he used to live alone, and laid down in their bed. It was heartbreakingly adorable and will make your soul die, but my goodness, it's so right for the novel. In addition, Beh died before Edh. A few chapters prior, Edh even stated that he didn't want to have the pain of her death if she went first, but he would rather bear it then she have to bear the pain of his death. And this did happen, even though their deaths were moments apart. One last kiss, she's gone. One last sob from him, he's gone. Curled up together forever.

The journey of him being alone to him growing old with the girl he found and came to love is the all time best.

As for the epilogue, I thought it was so cool how the author waited all the way till the end to tell us how Beh got to past times. It was nice reading the part where Beh fist saw him in her own words.

But this epilogue also made my head spin. The fact that Elizabeth's own mother was the one who found their bones, and Elizabeth herself saw the images. So in a way, Elizabeth was looking at images of herself millions? billions? years ago. Huh? Also if Elizabeth herself went back in time, ended up staying, living and dying there how was she even created? Because technically she was born, went back a millennium, died there...and then a millennium later she is born.

I still think about this slip up constantly. I'm not sure if I'm just over thinking this, or did Savage assume no one would catch this, or did she herself not even realize this?

After reading this, I told my mom and one of my sisters that I just read a whole novel told in a caveman's POV with, like, twenty lines max of dialogue. And that's pushing it. My mom thought it was cool, but my sister was so confused how I'd be amused by this.

No matter what, no matter the confusing parts, or the repetitive parts, I ended up loving this book. Five stars all the way. The only thing I really hate is that my soul is crushed now. It was a beautiful but sad book, and will definitely be one day reread. (When I'm able to stop crying.) (And yes, months later, I am still crying.)


4 comments:

  1. It's a paradox. I think it's meant to be. If she didn't see herself, would she have gone back at all? Or because she went back, she was born.

    It sounds like an interesting book.

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    1. Interesting concept.
      Her father is a scientist, and in his office she touched something she wasn't supposed to, and in a flash it transported her back in time and into the caveman's trap. This all happened on the very day the images of her in her future, which was in the past, was shown.

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  2. This sounds like a really good read. :) I'm planning on buying a TON of books for this summer and I think I'll have to add this to my list.

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  3. This sounds unbelievably good. I've found that I like books that come full circle like that because it's bursting with those feels. This reminds me of a book I read a while back "A Land Remembered" by Patrick D. Smith, in that it shows this couple's early life, their child's life, and then you get so involved in his new life. But his life is never far from their's. Also, it shows the death of both generations. It's complete. Like your story, the reader is left satisfied. I bought A Land Remembered after I'd read it once already checked out from the library. I will definitely look up Transcendence.
    (great first post, BTW)

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